Diesel, petrol, octane prices reduce by Tk 5

The government has cut the prices of diesel, petrol, octane and kerosene by Tk 5 per litre apparently to tame the commodity market which became volatile after the fuel got costlier.

The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources issued a gazette notification on Monday night in this regard.
Earlier in the day, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told reporters that the government decided to cut the fuel prices by Tk 5 per litre due to a reduction in taxes on fuel import.

The move came a day after the National Board of Revenue (NBR) waived the entire advance tax on diesel and reduce the import duty from 10 percent to 5 percent.

The new fuel prices came into effect at 12:00am today.

As per the notification, the diesel price has come down to Tk 109 per litre while that of octane to Tk 130, petrol to Tk 125 and kerosene to Tk 109 per litre.

About the global fuel prices, Nasrul Hamid said the gasoline is now retailing above $150 per barrel, which was $130 earlier. “A handsome amount of subsidy will be needed again. How much can we adjust the price under this situation?” he said.

The government on August 5 hiked fuel prices by upto 51.7 percent, the highest in the country’s history.

The octane price was hiked to Tk 135, up by 51.7 percent than the previous rate of Tk 89, while that of petrol to Tk 130, registering a rise by Tk 44 or 51.1 percent. The price of each litre of diesel and kerosene was raised to Tk 114 from Tk 80 with a hike by 42.5 percent.

The prices of essential commodities skyrocketed after the fuel got costlier, dealing a great blow to low and lower-middle income people, who are already bearing the brunt of inflationary pressure stemming from the volatile global commodity market due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The transport and agricultural production cost also shot up.